A healthy Los Angeles Clippers team could be a very tough one to beat.

Hoopsvibe's Quick Call: They may be in a stacked Western conference, but don't sleep on the Clipshow this season.

Both Clippers superstars, point guard Chris Paul and center Blake Griffin, underwent surgeries this offseason. Paul just had surgery on his thumb a few days ago and is said to be out eight weeks. Regardless, he will be ready for the start of this upcoming season.

Griffin, who had knee surgery on July 16th after doctors discovered a meniscus tear in his knee that forced him to miss this summer's London Olympics, came out and said Tuesday that he is 100% healed and ready to go.

The Clippers All-Star center has been training and rehabbing hard all summer, after he signed a five-year contract extension with the franchise in July that could be worth up to $95 million.

Not being able to participate in the Olympics forced the 7-footer to work on areas of his game, mainly his jump shot and free throws, that needed to improve. Griffin said he spent time "trying to become a more complete player, working on my shot and working on free throws."

Last season, Griffin shot an impressive 54.9% from the field but a not-so-impressive 52.1% from the free-throw line.

And once Paul and Griffin are fully healthy, they are going to be complimented by some strong new talent. In addition to extending Griffin's contract, the Clippers re-signed Chauncey Billups, brought in Lamar Odom (who I think will be much better with the Clippers than he was with the Mavs), as well as Jamal Crawford, Grant Hill, Willie Green, Ronny Turiaf and Ryan Hollins. Keep in mind, they also have DeAndre Jordan, Kenyon Martin, Caron Butler and Eric Bledsoe, all who have made an impact in the past.

"This year we want to take a step forward and I think the pieces that we've added, the guys we have returning and the work guys have put in this offseason have been tremendous. We look to take that next step as a franchise," Griffin said.

HoopsVibe's Very Quick Call: Careful what you ask for Argentina. Melo might just drop 37 points on you to shut you up.

The incident happened at the end of the 3rd quarter with the U.S. leading Argentina 102-76. The game was likely out of reach, although Argentina had come back from a 20 point deficit on the U.S. in an earlier game just weaks before to only lose by 4.

Carmelo Anthony was squaring up to take a transition 3-pointer when Argentina's smallest player Facundo Campazzo, their feisty reserve point guard, decided to punch Anthony in the groin. Anthony immediately fell the to floor in pain. Note, the shot went it. Just goes to show you punching Melo in the family jewels won't throw off his shot. You'd have better luck simply talking trash about his inability to win a ring or play selfishly. (Just an idea)

The incident immediately resulted in a possible serious situation and team U.S.A. players came over to defend their attacked teammate and Argentine players ran over to make sure someone didn't decide to make tiny little Campazzo into a hood ornament on their Bentley.

Mike Krzyzweski former-Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni both saw the cheap shot and erupted off the bench screaming at both the referee and the player, but the international refs somehow missed it. This is actually completely believable because these refs have managed to miss a lot of fouls. They appear to be watching more games than reffing them.

"He got hit in the groin," said coach K. ""That's why he buckled over. He wasn't celebrating the shot."

"We saw it all," said Anthony's Knick teammate, Tyson Chandler. "It was a cheap shot. He hit him in an area where you don't want to get hit. We all represent our countries. This is the Olympics. You never want to go like that."

After the game Campazzo insisted he didn't intentionally hit Anthony in the groin. Yeah, good luck selling that one. Oh, he made himself look even more innocent by then insisting Chris Paul had hit him earlier in the game. So then I guess you did intentionally hit Anthony. He can't have it both ways. He can't say, he didn't intentionally hit Anthony AND Chris Paul hit him earlier so it's justified.

Anyway, it was silly because the game meant nothing to either team's standing. Team U.S.A. were already a lock to finish their grouping in first place and team Argentina was locked to finish 3rd. These two teams could meat again and if they do, it should be a chippy affair.

Would AK-47 turn his back on Russia to rejoin the NBA? Fresh off being named the Euroleague's 2012 MVP, he is reportedly considering a return to the NBA.

HoopsVibe Very Quick Call: It isn't a question of if or when he will return to the NBA, but how much money it will take to get him back.

At one time Kirilenko was one of the most well rounded, efficient players in the entire league. At 6-9 and as a former 1st team All-NBA defensive player, his career averages speak to his versatility: 12.4 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 2.8 apg, 2.0 bpg, 1.4 spg all while shooting 47% from the floor, 31% from three and 76% from the line made him a rare talent and defensive nightmare for opposing teams.

AK left the US to play in Russian prior to last season . Even though he has 10 years of NBA experience under his belt, he is just 31 years old and has plenty of good run left.

Today, Kirilenko told a group of reporters what his plans for the upcoming season potentially consisted of. "I want to decide my new team before the Olympics. There are several options in the NBA, but the final choice has not been made yet."

Kirilenko also told a Russian news outlet the following, further hyping his return: "I'll continue my career in the NBA. Which club in particular, we'll know in a day or two."

Rumors are swirling that the Brooklyn Nets would have an advantage seeing as how fellow countryman Mikhail Prokhorov owns teh squad. And in some capacity, PG Deron Williams is trying to convince Kirilenko that he is the missing piece for a championship run.

But would he really accept the veteran's minimum (which is all the Nets can offer) to play in Brooklyn? Even though the new NBA trend is for veteran stars in search of a ring to take lower money in hopes of corralling a championship, it sure seems unlikely, considering the money he can get from other interested teams, most notably the Minnesota Timberwolves and Golden State Warriors.

Rule change means Dwight Howard will wait for free agency.
HoopsVibe's Very Quick Call: Dwight Howard wouldn't think of signing a contract extension to help complete a trade.
Howard is under contract through the 2012-2012 season. If he is traded and signs an extension now, the maximum number of years that contract can be is for three years.
Howard's agent recently explained why the new change in the labor agreement directly impacts Howard's decision. The new rule change affects players signing extensions before free agency and in Howard's case it makes no sense to sign an extension to help a trade. The new rule made it better for players to hit free agency, instead of extensions. This allows them to get more lucrative long-term deals. Signing now would likely cost Howard about $40 million.
Andrew Bynum is expected to follow the same painful path as Howard. Bynum could sign a three-year deal for $60 million or wait a year and sign a deal worth $100 million. Easy to see why under the new rules it's enticing to wait that extra year, hit free agency, and cash in.
It looks more and more like Dwight Howard will refuse to sign an extension to facilitate a trade. Orlando can't be blamed for wanting to get the best deal they can for Howard and Howard can't be blamed for wanting to cash in next year for $100 million. The problem is these two understandable issue make a Howard trade extremely difficult.
For more info, updates, and gossip follow @HoopsVibe
Photo Credit: AP NEWS

The associated press announced late yesterday that the NBA Board of Governors has approved changes to both uniforms and game play for upcoming seasons.

Hoopsvibe's Quick Call: The NBA is a business and business is good.

NBA commissioner David Stern said the league is looking to increase revenues by roughly $100 million by permitting small advertising patches to be sewn into uniforms beginning as early as the 2013-14 NBA season.

"The view is, that the teams would need a significant time; one, to sell the patch; and number two, for Adidas to manufacture the uniforms, because the patch that would be on the players' uniforms would also appear on the jerseys at retail," said Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver, the man in charge of coordinating the change.

Essentially, in the very near future, we can all expect to see NBA uniforms beginning to look like European soccer jerseys, patched with company logos. I wonder how the world will respond to this??

My guess is, with the popularity of the NBA on an international level growing exponentially every year, the world will at first be a little skeptical but then quickly embrace the change as it becomes the new norm.

It will definitely be interesting to see how many people buy Miami Heat jerseys with Fiat logos patched on, for example.

The Board also announced that the competition committee has altered a few rules that come into effect in the final two minutes of the game. Starting as early as next season, officials will now be able to utilize video replay in the final two minutes of the game to decide whether or not a defender was in the restricted area when they took a charge. Additionally, replay will be used in the final minutes to determine whether or not a block was actually a goal tend.

In the fall, the NBA Board will also meet to discuss the penalty for flopping, which was a huge problem that plagued the NBA this season, especially in the playoffs.

"Our ratings are up 28 percent over the last decade, while television rating are down around 30 percent the last decade. We are going to have our best year ever, both in gate and sponsorship this coming year," commissioner David Stern said.

Blake Griffin could have a very short career.
HoopsVibe's Very Quick Call: Thunderous dunks are fun, but so is having an NBA career more than 2 years long.
Blake Griffin is undeniably one of the most dynamic players in the NBA. His dunk highlight real is already the type of thing legends are made of. Unfortunately, the same thing that makes him so much fun to watch will also be the reason his NBA career is very short.
It is a little well known fact that players that soar through the air generally have short NBA careers. Yes, there are exceptions. I'm sure someone is going to write me talking about Jordan or Dominique's career. Like I said, with any general theory there are exception. Yet, ask any NBA GM and they'll all tell you the same thing. Players that make the majority of their buckets off of high-flying dunks are a liability due to the abuse their bodies and more specifically knees must endure.
Someone like Blake Griffin is a textbook example of the type of dunk-machine GM's cringe at. Without his ability to jump over everyone on the floor, Griffin quickly becomes a marginal player. He has zero outside shot, zero mid-range game, and hardly a low-post game to speak of that doesn't involve simply jumping over his defender. If Griffin loses a few inches off his vertical he becomes a bench player at best.
The reason this is of so much interest right now is Griffin recently injured his knee during the U.S. Olympic teams preparations for the 2012 London Olympics. He had arthroscopic surgery on Monday and will spend his summer not collecting gold medals in London but recovering in LA. It remains to be seen if he will be ready for the Clippers training camp. This would be a crushing loss for a team the heavily relied on his 20.7 points and 10.9 rebounds per game.
We wish Blake a speedy recovery and hope he has a long career, but flying through the air is dangerous.
For more info, updates, and gossip follow @HoopsVibe
Photo Credit: AP NEWS

Can you believe it’s been 20 years since the original Dream Team dominated the 1992 Summer Olympics? It must've been that long if Kobe thinks this year's incarnation would have ANY SHOT against them.

HoopsVibe Very Quick Call: There will never be another Dream Team, in any sport.

Perhaps even more amazingly, can you believe that in all that time that I have maintained my collection of Starting Lineup Dream Team figurines in its original box, unopened and untouched by human hands? On a trip to a local Target with my step mother, I conned her into buying it for me; $100 when you're twelve feels like $1,000,000. It was the kind of gift you could only secure via guilt. It was the sort of reverse psychology that women have been employing on me ever since.

I remember one time in 8th grade during my 13th birthday party it was discovered by a party goer named Eric Hoffman who spent at least two hours prying me to open it. It was the ultimate peer pressure situation, but I held firm. It turns out I should’ve probably opened it because since then it’s appreciated roughly $20 in nearly 20 years. But every time I see it, I remember how special that team was, even though Clyde Drexler and Christian Laettner, as late additions, were not included in the set.

Did you know that Laettner was actually selected over Shaquille O’Neal for the final spot? We all saw what Charles Barkley did to that Angolan; imagine what Shaq could’ve done. The Dream Team beat their opponents in the Olympics that year by an average score of 44 points a game and looked so cool doing it.

The closest margin of victory was a 32 point win over Croatia which included NBA players Toni Kukoc, Dino Radja, Drazen Petrovic, Stojko Vrankovic and Zan Tabak. Croatia won the Silver Medal and led by all that talent, ushered in a new era for the NBA where overseas players began to be viewed as valuable as their American counterparts. Today you can look at almost every NBA roster and find a player from another country, but in 1992 it was extremely rare.

Michael Jordan was the only player to start all eight games which really speaks to how great he was. Even surrounded by all those Alpha Males, there was no question who the top dog was. Jordan took 30 more shots than anyone else, but Barkley was the leading scorer putting up 18 ppg. Just in case anyone forgot, check out this roster; it would be akin to playing a game against the Hall of Fame as 11 of the players (minus Laettner) are actually in the Hall of Fame:

Michael Jordan- 14.9 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 4.8 apg

David Robinson- 9.0 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 0.9 apg

Patrick Ewing- 9.5 ppg, 5.3 rpg. 0.4 apg

Larry Bird- 8.4 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 1.8 apg

Scottie Pippen- 9.0 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 5.9 apg

Clyde Drexler- 10.5 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 3.6 apg

Karl Malone- 13.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.1 apg

John Stockton- 2.8 ppg, 0.3 rpg, 2.0 apg

Chris Mullin- 12.9 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 3.6 apg

Charles Barkley- 18 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 2.4 apg

Magic Johnson- 8.0 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 5.5 apg

Christian Laettner- 4.8 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 0.4 apg

Since the original Dream Team won Gold, the rest of the world gradually caught up and no other US Olympic team was even close to being as dominant. In what can only be described as an affront to the supreme quality of the original (and only, in my mind) Dream Team is that each of the next two USA Olympic teams were also referred as the “Dream Team” though really, who are they fooling? A team with Steve Smith on it should never be referred to as a “Dream Team”. A more suitable moniker would be “Team of Guys Who Are Above Average NBA Players”.

The Dream Team wasn't just the greatest team ever assembled for the way it dominated on the court, but it actually furthered the development of the sport for the entire world.

Hoopsvibe's Quick Call: The USA Men's Basketball team will still win gold at the London Olympics despite missing key players.

Blake Griffin is the latest player from the USA Men's basketball team to withdraw from this summer's Olympic games in London due to injury. The LA Times reported yesterday that the Clippers star had torn his meniscus and returned to Los Angeles on Thursday for examination.

"I'm disappointed I can't be with the guys in London," Griffin said. "I want to wish them all the best in their pursuit of the gold medal."

Jerry Colangelo, USA Basketball chairman, commented, "Blake worked extremely hard in our training camp and certainly would have been a valuable contributor. This is another unfortunate injury, but we have to continue to move on and we're very fortunate to have Anthony Davis available."

Anthony Davis, the Kentucky freshman who was just drafted #1 overall by the Hornets, will be taking Griffin's place on the roster. In doing so, Davis becomes just the third player (since NBA players were first used in 1992) to play in the Olympics before playing in the pros. Christian Laettner and Emeka Okafor are the others.

While many are now questioning whether or not it is wise for NBA stars to be playing in the Olympics (as it increases the risk of injury), I would argue that this is going to be a great opportunity for Davis to get ready for the upcoming season. Despite Davis' size and talent, he has yet to play against any of the big stars in the league. Playing in the Olympics will give him an opportunity to go up against the world's best and get banged around in training by some of the NBA's most talented players.

"Whatever Coach K wants me to do I am going to do...I am going to look forward to the challenges, and I'm looking forward to going overseas and my first time out of the United States," Davis said.

And while Griffin's injury is a disappointment for fans and the Clippers organization, the 7-footer will undergo arthroscopic surgery and should be fully healthy to play in the upcoming season.

"We're relieved that this does not affect Blake's ability to be ready in time for training camp...We're glad we can get this fixed now and take advantage of the available time for him to fully recover," Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro said.

Tonight at the stroke of midnight EST, the free agent feeding frenzy will begin.

HoopsVibe Very Quick Call: Some long running questions about some big names and their destination for next season will finally be answered.

- Where will Steve Nash finally end up?

For two years we've been hearing Nash's name in about every conceivable trade scenario; and nothing ever happened. The Suns drafting of Kendall Marshall this week says a lot about how interested the organization is in bringing Nash back. Also, their supposed interest in Eric Gordon is another nail in the coffin that was Nash's time in Phoenix

- Where will Deron WIlliams go?

No matter where he ends up, will he finally play for a title contender? Mired in both Utah and New Jersey in his career, D WIll has been one of the NBA's most productive PG's. But can he lead a winner? Or will he forever be a great individual talent on bad teams?

Some experts have called the first round of the 2012 NBA Draft the most deep in recent memory; but does that mean it will ever rank as one of the best in history? When the dust settles will the 2012 version be able to hang with the first rounds of 2003, 1996, 1985 or 1991?

HoopsVibe Very Quick Call- It generally takes a couple years for any draft to pan out. But who knows?

Going into the Oklahoma vs. Miami NBA Finals almost no one picked Miami to win. The world was excited about a new young team and it's wasn't the Miami Heat. No, the Heat had quickly become the most hated team in the world over the last 2 season. LeBron was made out to be the devil and everyone seemed to cheer against him.

Last night he was vindicated. LeBron is one of only a handful of NBA players to ever with the regular season MVP, the NBA Championship, and the Finals MVP. He finished game 5 with a triple-double, 26 points, 11 rebounds, and 13 assists. Not he ever needed to prove anything, but he did. He play was passionate and inspired.

The Heat were up by 10 at half-time, but came out in the 3rd quarter on a mission. Miami outscored the Thunder 36-22 in the 3rd to blow the game wide open. Miller was draining 3-pointers like he was 24-years old again, Wade went for 20 points, Bosh 24, and Miller an amazing 23 on 7-8 shooting from downtown.

The Heat simply overpowered the young and energetic Thunder Team. And as things started to slip away from the Thunder they reverted back to bad habits. Westbrook started jacking up tough shots he probably should have passed to Durant or Harden. Westbrook ended up going 4-20 for the game. Tough to win when your point guard is shooting that poorly. Durant had 32 points, but the team as a whole shot just 41 percent.

This is a day for Miami and LeBron to feel the weight of the world lifted. They're finally world champions and earned every bit of it.

With LeBron sidelined, Chalmers comes through to dominate the 4th quarter.

HoopsVibe's Very Quick Call: Mario will not be denied.

One thing Mario Chalmers has never lacked is confidence. On a team star studded with sure-fire Hall-of-Famers, he still humbly sees himself as a go-to option and in game 4 he showed the world why.

Game 4 was like a lot of the Thunder vs. Heat series, ugly, grinding, hard-nosed basketball. These are the types of games where it's tough for the refs to not get involved. On every play bodies are going flying. This is a Finals dominated by names like Wade, Durant, James, Westbrook, Bosh, and Harden, but Mario added Chalmers to the mix in a big way Tuesday night.

Chalmers came into a virtually tied game and dominated the 4th quarter wit h 12 points including a clutch layup with under a minute to go to push Miami on to victory. He ended the game with 25 points on 9-15 shooting and 3-9 from downtown. When LeBron went out of the game with cramps, it wasn't Wade, but Chalmers that took over the game. His confidence is perhaps his greatest strength. And although he's the 4th or 5th option on this high-powered offense, he knows how to turn it on when it counts. If Miami goes on to win the NBA Championship this year, let the record show it was Chalmers that brought them game 4.

HoopsVibe Very Quick Call: Sessions smells that the Lakers are in a tough position and he's smart to levarage it for more money.

Los Angeles guard Ramon Sessions is declining his one-year option for 2012-2-13 and instead looking to test the free agent waters. He's clearly hoping to garner more than the $4.55 million option the Lakers had on the table.

Sessions had a productive year with Los Angeles averaging 12.7 points, 6.2 assists, and 3.8 rebounds in 23 regular-season games. The Lakers need his speed and quickness both on offense and defense. They will be forced to still try and sign him through free agency, but would likely have to pay more.

LA traded long time point guard Derek Fisher away last off-season, due to his declining lateral mobility and will be in a bad situation if they can't resign Sessions for a reasonable amount of money. They've still got Gasol as an option to trade, but the problem is they don't have much money to play with and the number of quality guards available this off-season with comparable quickness are few.

HoopsVibe's Very Quick Call: Miami has the momentum up 2-1 and homecourt advantage. Maybe the King will finally be crowned.

The Heat started off strong building a 20-26 first quarter lead, but as we all know Oklahoma has a history of starting slow. The Thunder game roaring back winning the 2nd and 3rd quarters to set up the fourth quarter showdown we've all come to expect in these playoffs.

The Thunder didn't quite look like themselves going into the 4th. James Harden was having a horrible game with just 9 points on 2-10 shooting and Kevin Durant had sad a large portion of the 2nd and 3rd quarters with early foul trouble in the game.

On the other side of the ball, LeBron was able to get good looks largely inside the paint. When LeBron receives the ball from 17 feet and in, his shooting percentages go way up. In game three LeBron lived in the paint in the first half. This is a recipe for success as it give him more confidence in knocking down the jumper when it presents himself, but prevents his settling for long fade-away shots the Thunder are relieved to see him attempt.

In the 4th it was really anyone's game. The Heat build up a 7 point lead with about 5 minutes left and it looked like Miami would cruise to their second NBA Finals win, but 30 seconds and 2 Wade turnovers later it was a 1 point game. Sefolosha is a defensive machine and has proved capable of picking Wade's pocket multiple times late in games.

In the end Miami won it at the free throw line. It wasn't the most glamorous win in NBA history watching LeBron and Wade knock down free throws, but it was still a win. LeBron ended up with 29 points and 14 rebounds as Wade had 25 points. Durant had 25 points on limited minutes due to foul trouble and Russell Westbrook 19 points.